Thursday provided the second all-day experience of the week for the team from Centro. And the theme? Construction! Specifically, we would be helping two farmers from the cooperative, Timo and Filiberto, prepare an old cancha (playground) into a new, bigger site for them to sort and dry their coffee beans, but more importantly, a place to house their new trilla, a machine that separated the papery husks of the dried coffee fruits from the green bean inside. While some work had been done already, Timo and Filiberto took full advantage of having a team of 15 people there to help them out (this included some additional DLG volunteers in town this week, who joined the Centro group). There were two main tasks to be accomplished: 1) clearing the area near the entrance to the property in order to continue building the exterior wall of concrete blocks; 2) clearing and leveling the area near the back, so that a structure could be built to house the trilla.

Actions speak louder than words, so I'll let today's video do most of the talking. But in short, it was a backbreaking day of hard work in the sun, with sunburns a plenty; two pairs of ripped pants/shorts; clothing and faces covered with splatters of fresh cement; another home-cooked and home-eaten lunch of estofado (a chicken dish with rice, vegetables and a signature sauce) and horchata; and a group of exhausted and fulfilled people.

The day was capped off with a festive meal at Sobremesa, an Antiguan restaurant with plenty of flair - from a blackberry chipotle steak to fig wasabi ice cream. All in all, it was one of the most enjoyable and rewarding days of the trip.